Yellow Poppies for Mum

Well today has been pretty grey and damp in Sydney town. Bit like the June day my mother's birthday fell on this year. My brother chose a restaurant on the ocean to celebrate the occasion with a family dinner. It would have been a lovely place to gaze at the sea had the wind not been swirling and the rain pelting against the windows and shades. Not to worry, we enjoyed the meal regardless.

Yellow is my mother's favourite colour. I bought this Poppy stamp set after being inspired by Jules' red poppy cards HERE. I'm going to try some red poppies in time for Rememberance Day in November. I've been eyeing off the large scallop border die for some time and decided it was time to give it a go.

I decided to decorate the inside and envelope as well:

I still have two more Asian cards to share when I get a chance. Blogger has been having some issues and between work and school holidays, there's not much blogging time but thanks for visiting, always appreciated.

Love from Crafty Kim

Inspired by Asia

Australia has much to thank Asia for. Who doesn't enjoy their local Asian restaurant? I could eat Thai almost every night. And many of us have holidayed in parts of Asia. There's no doubt that my life is better for the influence of Asian friends.

This influence extends to paper-craft. For starters, I've never met a Japanese paper I didn't like. And I love the various Asian doll stamps. I've used both in the above card. This particular Japanese paper has been speaking to me for some time. So I finally relented and bought it. I love the colours, and I've used the same colours to colour up the doll. I've also used an embossing folder to give the dark green card a textured finish in the form of blossoms. I know it's a bit hard to see in this photo - the legacy of photos taken too late at night.

I've got a couple more Asian cards to share and as usual, loads more ideas! In the interim, I wanted to share this great tutorial for punch art Japanese dolls from Kirsteen. Here's a sample of what she has created:

Please check it out...

Love from Crafty Kim

A Pink Hippo Card

Remember this card? Well I re-fashioned it to suit my niece for her 3rd birthday.

The pink, grey and green colour works well and I used a loopy edge border punch and a number embossing folder to add some fun. Had to add the die-cut "3" because like all three year olds, she is very proud to reach this milestone (she wants to catch up to my son, her 9 year old cousin).

And, her Mum, being a keen cake decorator made her this lovely purple and orange Dora cake:


Looks too good to eat!

Hope you're sneaking in some craft in this rainy weather. Hoping you don't have to go out all weekend.

Love from Crafty Kim

Forty and Fabulous

Or is it "Forty and Still Naughty?". Maybe "Forty and Foxy?". What about "Forty and Sporty?" The age of 40, there's quite a few possibilities...enough philosophy I hear you say, what about the card?

I made this for my much older friend (not). Pulled out every number stamp set I own and stamped fours and zeros on some decorative paper which resembles book pages. I was going for a slightly vintage/shabby chic look on this card so didn't heat emboss - decided to go with varying ink coverage.

Then I got my dotty embossing folder out and ran the vanilla card stock through my Big Shot. Two ribbons (why stop at one?) and I settled on "Forty and Fabulous" for the sentiment. And I love the die cut doily behind the sentiment, really makes the card in my humble opinion.

Do you like the little roses?

I got these from a lovely stamping friend in the USA.

Last, I made a matching envelope:


Well, better get to bed. Tomorrow I'm off to stamp camp with my crafty friends for two days of paper-crafting. So I should have plenty to share in the next fews weeks. But first, I have to rest up from packing my supplies into my station-wagon (it's a squeeze).

Thanks for visiting,

Love from Crafty Kim